Say Goodbye to the West

Every 150 seconds a football field's worth of natural open land is lost to development in the Western United States.

Scientists from the Conservation Science Partners have analysed satellite imagery and public data to determine how much land in the West is being developed, at what rate and why this happening. You can read more about their findings and where land is being lost to development in a new report from the Center for American Progress.

You can jump right in and start exploring where land is being lost to development on the Disappearing West interactive map. If you want to learn a little more about the reasons why this land is being developed and why it is important to protect natural land then you might want to first read the Center for America Progress' The Disappearing West article.

The map presents a choropleth view of the Western United States showing how much land has been lost to development in every county between 2001 and 2011. If you press the 'Local' button you can view a heat-map of the same data, providing a more localized view. Press the 'State' button and you can view a choropleth layer showing the amount of land lost in each state.

The map also includes a timeline which allows you to select a different year to see how much land was lost from 2001 until your chosen year.